Home prices in Vancouver and Toronto may have climbed out of reach for many buyers over the last few years, but if you thought you could score a deal in the burbs, that’s looking increasingly scarce, as well.
The reason: price growth in areas like the Fraser Valley to the east of Vancouver in B.C.’s lower interior, or the Hamilton-Burlington area adjacent to the Greater Toronto Area – or in the outer bands of the GTA itself, for that matter – is rising at a rate comparable to the two red-hot centres they surround.
The number of sales last month cooled a touch, new numbers show, but it did little to arrest scorching price gains in suburbia.
Monthly jump
The latest price data published Thursday by CREA, the country’s real estate association, shows average prices once again jumping sharply in the Fraser Valley (10.9 per cent year on year last month), and the Hamilton region (9.1 per cent).
The average home price in those areas sits at $577,192 and $449,233, respectively.
That compares to $627,395 in the greater Toronto area, a vast swath of geography that encompasses the metro area as well as several commuter cities (list here), which saw average prices jump 9.4 per cent in September compared to 2014.
MORE: The Great Canadian Housing Boom
Doubled
Home prices in the Hamilton area have shot up 105 per cent since September 2005. In the Fraser Valley, they’ve climbed 95.4 per cent, while in the GTA, the average was 101.5 per cent.
That compares to the Niagara region to the immediate south of Hamilton, where prices have climbed just 60 per cent over the past 10 years. Just 60 per cent.
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